Rant: People slapping peel-and-stick tile over old linoleum without prepping first

I helped a friend pull up her kitchen floor last weekend and found three layers of tile just falling apart underneath because nobody bothered to clean or level the subfloor first. If you don't scrape off the old glue and fill the dips, that new tile will be buckling within six months. Am I the only one who thinks prep work is half the job?

2 comments

2 Comments

adam_lewis18d ago

Prep work is half the job"... more like 90% of it.

joel60318d ago

Totally agree with you @adam_lewis, prep is like 90% of it lol. People see those peel-and-stick tiles at the store and think it's just stick and go, but they don't realize the old floor has to be bone dry, flat, and clean. If there's any old glue bumps or moisture trapped underneath, that new tile will start curling at the edges in a few months, guaranteed. I've seen folks skip the floor leveler and just hope for the best, then wonder why their $200 floor looks like garbage by summer. Even a cheap floor needs proper scraping and patching if you want it to last more than a year. Prep work might be boring but it's literally the difference between a floor that holds up and one that falls apart.